John Caden

5 results

Gay Byrne’s great strength as a radio host was his capacity to listen: his listeners trusted him with secrets they would not share with their nearest and dearest. Photograph: Photograph: Eddie Kelly/The Irish Times
Hold the mic: How Gay Byrne ruled the radio waves

Lest there be any doubt just how deeply woven into Irish life Gay Byrne’s persona was, just listen to Tico’s Tune by Manuel and the Music of the Mount(...)

“A great favourite for starters”: Maura Bourke says she was always able to get avocados in the late 1970s
Maybe it wasn’t so far from avocados we were reared

A lot of you have responded to last week’s you-kids-don’t-realise-how-good-you-have-it nostalgia-fest. Some readers share our recollections of the 198(...)

The grotto in Granard where 15-year-old Ann Lovett gave birth to her son. Photograph: Brenda Fitzsimons
The Ann Lovett letters: sorrow, shame, anger and indignation

As Gay Byrne said on his programme, just over two weeks after the Ann Lovett story broke, there were “too many letters. They couldn’t be ignored.” The(...)

Gay Byrne was the first broadcaster in Ireland to instigate telephone technology as part of what we now know as ‘talkback radio’. Photograph: Alan Betson
Gay Byrne played seminal role in making Ireland a modern society

“Gaybo changed Ireland: discuss!” That’s the question broadcast historian Dr Finola Doyle O’Neill set for herself, and her conclusion is emphatic. “G(...)

Reeling in the years: the many faces of Uncle Gaybo, including, top left, with his portrait in the National Gallery of Ireland in 2000; bottom left, the motorcycling enthusiast; inset left, on The Late Late Show in 1966; centre, presenting his Lyric FM radio show last year; middle right, shaking hands with Charles Haughey at a surprise party at RTÉ in 1998; and bottom right, as chairman of the Road Safety Authority in 2007
Eighty candles for Gaybo, the slightly fussy man from Rialto

At the heart of all great talent, and of all great change, is a mystery. Analysts can dissect the components that went into making a particular per(...)